Starting the Work:
For this, thinking about the job, imagining how you will feel when you start and finish the job, giving yourself a motivational speech to finish the job, thinking about what will happen if you don’t do the job, planning the phases of the job, and the best way to get the job done. it is necessary to choose the appropriate time, stop the work you are doing at that time, collect the necessary material and start the work.
Some children have a greater need for external cues (eg, verbal reminders or demonstrations from parents or teachers). Some children, on the other hand, cannot think of the positive consequences of doing the job or the negative consequences of not doing it.
Children aged 1-4:
First they have to stop what they are doing. This requires verbal reminders from a short time ago: “In two minutes, you’re putting your toys away and going to the bathroom.” Just before the job, the signal is given again: “Okay, two minutes are up. Bath time.” “I know it’s hard to finish the game while having fun, but you can keep playing in the bathroom.”
Visual reminders should also be used: A kitchen timer or telephone alarm can be used.
One of the best ways is to use a song about finishing and collecting. The same song should be used each time.
Children can understand and retain transitions before they learn to speak. This is called “non-verbal function memory”. They form an image of what was done before and after a transition, and they can remember the sequence of events.
Children of this age can learn the concept of “before – after”: “First the shirt, then the pants”. As children get older, the number of jumps can increase: First we collect their toys, then we prepare our bathroom stuff, and then we go to the bathroom.” “We will paint before lunch”, “After dinner you will play games.” It is important to reinforce:“After sleep your father will come home”; “Have you seen? Your father came home after sleep.”
Children with executive dysfunction cannot imagine starting a job. It’s like trying to put the pieces of a puzzle together without looking at the picture on the cover. That’s why visual support is important: You can show the work to be done by pointing with your hand, you can show a representative picture of the work, or you can take a photo of the work while the child is doing it and hang it in an easy-to-see place.
It is very important to reinforce with praise: “Well done!” “You did a good job.” “I really like how you did it.” “I’m so proud of you for striving to give up.” “You collect very well. Let me help you by lifting the blocks.” Some jobs may require awards or celebrations: “We can go to the park after dinner.” The reward should be given as soon as possible after the job is completed. Previous awards should not be withdrawn unless they interfere with work that needs to be done. In order to enjoy the success at the beginning, it is necessary not to set the bar too high for the reward.
Children 5-12:
Close guidance is required for completion of assignments between kindergarten and second grade. From the third grade, teachers gradually withdraw their support in order to develop independent learning skills. During this period, children need to learn to know, plan and initiate the next job without being told.
Children can learn to do a less pleasurable job before they can do something they love. It’s like finishing homework before playing games. Children with executive function problems resist this rule because they focus on how bored they’ll be doing it, not on the enjoyment of getting the job done. In such a situation, it is necessary to direct them to think about how happy they will be to get the job done, how comfortable they will be while playing, and how smiling their parents will be.
Before starting a job, it is necessary to make sure that the child knows how to do it. If he does not know, the work should be divided into small steps and taught step by step.
If there is more than one job to be done, the child should also be taught to set priorities and choose which job to start with. You may also be asked to sort things out in order of difficulty and choose which one to start with.
Goal planning: It is one of the basic executive functions. Elementary school children may be able to make to-do lists to learn how to plan for the future. They can learn to calculate the time required for each job. For this, pictures showing the work to be done can be pasted on the calendars. Each time a job is done, the calendar can be marked. Thus, the child archives the achievements instead of procrastinating.
Creating a homework routine: 1. Determining a homework place. There should be no screens in this space. The space should be large enough and well lit. 2. Homework time determination. It varies for each child, but it is usually best to start after a short feeding and rest break when you get home. You should be consistent and determined in your routine.
Age 13 and Above:
Adolescents generally have more out-of-school activities. Despite this, it is useful to try to establish an evening routine. Some teens don’t feel the pressure of homework if they don’t put it off until later in the night. This results in trying to finish homework until late at night. Adolescents need an average of 9.5 hours of sleep. On the other hand, with the adolescence period, the time to fall asleep shifts to later hours. Therefore, it is important for adolescents to learn evening routine and sleep hygiene.
Procrastination Monster: It feeds on the adolescent’s time. Especially after procrastination, the adolescent who succeeds in an exam despite working for a short time says to himself, “I studied very little, but I succeeded”. If he fails, he says, “It’s like this because I didn’t work until the last minute.” Some young people procrastinate because they are afraid of trying and failing and want to be able to keep the excuse of not working in their hands. In this case, it can be said that it is necessary to take risks.
Adolescents who overestimate their work can be taught to divide the work into small parts. It’s like writing an introductory sentence first, outlining the work to be done, working for a short time and taking a break.
Procrastination is also triggered by distracting stimuli (internet, telephone, computer games, etc.). However, research shows that such distractors impair learning and memory. It should be determined when the adolescent tends to procrastinate: bored or forced at some stage? It’s important to identify procrastination triggers and learn to counter them.
Failure avoidance traps: Fear of failure reinforces by using procrastination as an excuse. In this case, it is necessary to normalize the failure. It is very important for parents to teach by example that the road to success is through failure, and to explain the importance of effort, determination, acting effectively, asking for support, and building resilience to failure.
Motivation (desire, “greed”) is a situational trait, not a character trait of the child. Everyone is more willing to do certain things. In order to ensure that the adolescent does not see himself as a reluctant and lazy person, it is important what he says to himself: “I like solving problems because I am good at math. On the other hand, writing an essay is not my favorite job, so I need support” “I will talk to my friends with peace of mind when I have finished my homework” “I will get the appreciation of my teacher when I turn in my homework on time”
Banning the internet and media altogether does not usually provide a solution. Instead, agreeing with the adolescent to set a time limit, ensuring that the computer providing internet access remains in the room where the parents live, and installing a program that only blocks social media may work. Rather than starting with very strict rules from the beginning, it is more appropriate to make an agreement with the adolescent and tighten the rules if the agreement clauses are broken. There are programs where adolescents can set themselves social media barriers for certain periods of time. www.mytomatoes.com or www.anti-social.cc are two of them. When these do not work, a “technology-free zone” can be created at home and the adolescent can be directed to work there.
Response Prevention:
It is impulse control. Because children’s time horizons are so close, they can only think of the here and now. But as they mature, they may give up the things they want to do now for the sake of a more important goal. For example, they may turn off their phones to study for the exam. However, the development of reaction prevention skills of children and adolescents with executive dysfunction is delayed. Reaction prevention is necessary to protect oneself from dangers, to maintain friendships, not to react emotionally and sometimes aggressively to various situations, to solve problems calmly and effectively, and to comply with classroom rules during the lesson. Children who have difficulty avoiding reactivity also communicate by over-tactile, anticipate the last parts of words or sentences while reading (roughly reading) and therefore have difficulty understanding what they read.
“Fox, what time is it”, musical chairs, “frost”, animated games such as hide and seek and board games increase the ability to avoid reaction.
Foresight: Children who act impulsively give some warning signs before they act. For example, they become angry or overly excited. With these emotions, their gaze, facial expressions may change or they may clenched their fists. When you see the warning sign, you can try to get the child out of the situation with a command or encourage him to apply the calming methods he has learned before. You can ask him to verbally express his feelings. Your goal is for him to learn to recognize his own signs and rein in his behavior. To ensure this, you must make a statement when intervening. For example, “I notice that you are bored. What’s on your mind right now?” you may ask. In such moments, it is necessary to make the verbal intervention in short sentences.
Teaching what to do instead of acting impulsively: For example, “Now let’s try again. Can you ask my permission before you take my stuff?” If it asks for permission, it is necessary to give the object it wants. If you can’t, you have to offer options. For example, “My scissors are sharp and dangerous. Let’s find some paper scissors together.” “If you wait for my talk to finish, I will listen to you. I want you to wait without interrupting me by raising a finger or saying “excuse me mom” once”.
Recognize and report back when he has control over his urge: “Thank you for not interrupting me when I’m on the phone.”
For children who make careless mistakes: First, it is necessary to look for a pattern, that is, to discover what kind of mistakes they make more often. Then, he can be taught how to systematically review his work, to recognize and correct his mistake. For example, while solving a mathematical problem, the child who reads the question carelessly can be taught to read aloud, mark the key words in the question, identify the steps of solving the problem, solve it, and finally check or check the result.
It is important for the child to know the situation waiting for him and the steps he will take and to prepare himself. You can explain the situations he will face and what he should do at the beginning, but the main goal is for him to learn to predict and plan.
Marking visual details: Learning to mark key words in the information that needs to be learned with colored pencils can be helpful.
Focus:
Normally, the duration of maintaining attention without interruption is 20 minutes in children and up to 45 minutes in adolescents. This period is much shorter in children with executive dysfunction and they need to “reset” their attention more frequently.
Learning to monitor himself: First of all, the child needs to learn to distinguish whether he can focus or not. The child can be encouraged by explaining that this skill will increase the success of the school and the study time will be shortened. A timer or alarm can be used for practice. It works well for the alarm to go off every 5 minutes and check if the child is focused.
It is not possible to perform multiple functions in tasks involving the same brain region. For example, it is not possible to study and communicate on the phone or watch television at the same time. This type of work will quickly consume mental energy and cause mental fatigue, as well as hinder learning. Studies have shown that children who are interested in the phone or television while studying have lower grade point averages. For this reason, it is useful to turn off the phone and TV while working, to take a break at 15-minute intervals at first, to browse social media on the phone, and to try to extend this time gradually. Parents need to set an example by practicing this skill themselves.
While studying, it should not be possible to watch television, video or any visuals from the internet, or even hear the sound.
Listening to music while studying can also disrupt concentration. Music is desirable because it improves mood and makes studying less boring. The type of music listened to and the quality of the lesson studied are important. Music will have a disruptive effect, especially when learning something complex or while memorizing. If he wants to listen to it, he should prefer instrumental music, not verbal.
Non-Judgmental Awareness (mindfulness): It can be thought of as mental yoga. Children with attention problems can quickly have many different thoughts running through their minds and distracting them. It may help if the child tells himself to “slow down”, focus on breathing, or create a calm image in his mind.
Time Management
Leaving Home:
What does “ready” mean, you should see. He should be able to visualize in his mind what it takes to be ready. For this, it may be useful to take a photo of the moment when it is “ready” and about to leave the door, and paste it next to the door and write a list of the necessary tasks under it.
Organizing the list of tasks into categories can make it easier to remember:
Personal hygiene: dressing, washing face, combing hair, brushing teeth, wearing shoes
Food: Sandwiches, drinks, etc.
School supplies: Backpack, homework, school books, pencil case, leave slip, project.
Personal belongings: Key, wallet, phone, ID, money.
After school: sweatpants, equipment, shoes.
Meal Time Rules:
No toys or electronics at the table,
If he refuses breakfast, give him something to eat and a mid-morning snack,
Homework Time:
Clearing the environment of distracting stimuli; Providing a clean, tidy and quiet environment.
Making decisions about when and how to do homework together.
Being able to visualize the finished homework in his mind. Imagine how you would feel.
Availability of analog clocks in the environment. Marking with a magnet or paper to be pasted on the watch, which arm of the watch should have finished working where. Similar marking of breaks.
Timer usage
Planning Learning Activities:
Teaching and encouraging the use of agenda and calendar. Daily monitoring of its processing. Marking each lesson in separate colors.
Keeping in the family calendar
